REPORT #482 April 2002
THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF BELIZE RIG THE LEGAL
PROFESSION TO MILK THE PUBLIC OF FEES!

Produced by the Belize
Development Trust

( from Channel 5 article )

10 yr. old insurance claim
case finally ends!

The wheels of
justice turn slowly in Belize,
due in part, to
the backlog of cases before
any one of the
country's courts. But the
case we're going
to tell you about tonight
is unprecedented
because it spans ten
years, involves
three deaths and today, is
finally over.
Way back in 1991, a fire on
Albert Street completely destroyed
the Monte Carlo store. The
shop's owner, Adnan Jundi immediately
filed a claim with his
insurance company, Regent Insurance.
But when his claim was
denied, Jundi took the company to
court. It took five years and eight
months for the case to be called.
Justice George Singh heard both
sides, but died before closing
arguments could be delivered. Justice
John Rivero was eventually assigned
the case, but was killed in a
traffic accident before he could pass
judgement. This legal battle
took another twist in November of
1999 when the plaintiff, Adnan
Jundi, died in Lebanon. Nevertheless,
the case proceeded without
him in October of 2000, this time in
the courtroom of former justice
George Meerabux. But just when it
looked like the case of Jundi vs.
Regent Insurance and Company Limited
was going to be settled, an
order to review the evidence before
the court to determine whether
or not it should continue with the
evidence presented or if a new trial
was necessary, Meerabux was removed
from the bench. So finally,
the case landed on the table of
Justice Christopher Blackman who
heard arguments from attorneys Derek
Courtenay, representing
Jundi, and Denys Barrow appearing for
the insurer. Today, eleven
years after the fire and thousands of
dollars in legal fees later,
Justice Blackman has ruled that there
is no basis to continue the
case because the plaintiff is dead.
This afternoon, News 5 spoke
with attorney Denys Barrow for his
comments on the judgement.

Denys Barrow, Attorney for Regent
Insurance
"As a matter of law, there needed to
have been a new trial unless both
parties agreed. And even if both
parties agreed, I still have some
reservations. But if both parties
agree, possibly the new judge could
have read the evidence given at the
earlier trial, and made a
determination based upon that. But
that to my mind would have been
absolutely unsatisfactory especially
in a case such as this, where the
principal allegation being made by
the insurance company is that the
fire was deliberately set."

Attorney Derek Courtenay declined to
be interviewed on camera,
but via telephone told our reporter
that the case was unfortunate
because it took so long, but at least
it is over.